Background: Paxlovid® (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) is the only licensed oral antiviral for COVID-19. Ritonavir is a potent inhibitor of cytochrome P450 enzymes causing numerous drug-drug interactions (DDIs).
Aim: To describe the frequency, type, and severity of detected drug related problems (DRPs) associated with Paxlovid®.
Background: Since 2022, patients with five or more medicines are eligible for a medication review (MR) in a community pharmacy remunerated by the German health system. However, implementation has been slow, with few pharmacies providing MRs. Stakeholders' input is necessary to detail how implementation strategies can be executed effectively on a national level.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pharmacists play a key role in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS). Consensus-based national AMS competencies for undergraduate healthcare professionals in the UK reflect the increasing emphasis on competency-based healthcare professional education. However, the extent to which these are included within undergraduate pharmacy education programmes in the UK is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Many studies report antimicrobial stewardship programme (ASP) implementation, but these are limited by a lack of theoretical underpinning. This may lead to missing key factors that are likely to influence the successful or unsuccessful implementation.
Aim: To explore key stakeholders' perspectives of ASP implementation in UAE hospitals, with a focus on facilitators and barriers.
Background: Recent legal changes in Germany entitle patients on multiple medications to receive a medication review (MR). However, the provision of MRs is not mandatory and pharmacy owners decide whether to implement this service in their pharmacies.
Aim: To determine pharmacy owners' attitudes towards MRs, explore their experiences with MR implementation and examine their perceptions of barriers and facilitators towards implementation of MRs in community pharmacies.
Background: The role of General Practice Clinical Pharmacists is becoming more clinically complex. Some are undertaking courses to develop their skillsets.
Aim: To explore potential behavioural determinants influencing the implementation of skills gained from Advanced Clinical Examination and Assessment courses by General Practice Clinical Pharmacists.
Introduction And Objectives: The disruption of antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized but not explored in depth. This study used a theoretical, qualitative approach to understand the impact of COVID-19 on ASP implementation in hospitals.
Methods: Semi-structured online interviews, informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), were conducted with ASP team members and non-members in hospitals.
Introduction: There is an increasing policy and practice imperative for involving patients and carers in health-related undergraduate courses. The School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences at Robert Gordon's University, United Kingdom launched a module where patients and carers are actively involved in the delivery of the curriculum by sharing their experiences of their condition and its management with final year student pharmacists. This study aimed to evaluate this initiative by exploring patients' and carers' views and experiences of their active involvement in the delivery and their perceptions of potential future involvement in the design of the pharmacy curriculum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile there is some evidence that migration to Western countries increases metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk, there is a lack of data pertaining to migration to the Middle East. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between migration and MetS incidence following 24-months of residency in Qatar and identify possible MetS determinants. Migrants to Qatar employed at Hamad Medical Corporation (the national health service) aged 18-65 years were invited to participate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: This project aimed to develop content, pilot delivery, and evaluate effectiveness of an innovative Medicines Safety School Programme delivered by student pharmacists to primary school pupils.
Methods: A collaborative approach between academic staff and a primary school guided programme content. The interactive workshop focused on benefits of medicines when used correctly and harmful effects associated with misuse.
Background: Though medication reviews have shown positive patient outcomes, they are still not widely implemented in community pharmacies. Published reviews on their implementation often include several other pharmacy services, making them non-specific. Using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to focus solely on the experiences of different stakeholders with the implementation of medication reviews will help to better understand relevant facilitators and barriers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: While there is evidence of implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, there has been limited benchmarking and mapping to international standards and frameworks.
Aim: To critically appraise and synthesize the evidence of ASP implementation in GCC hospitals with reference to the framework of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), identifying key facilitators and barriers.
Methods: A systematic review protocol was developed based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses for Protocols guidelines.
Background It has been acknowledged and recognised internationally that the community pharmacy team has a major role to play in antimicrobial stewardship programmes, particularly regarding patient engagement. However, there is a paucity of published research on community pharmacy-based activities in antimicrobial stewardship, and views and perceptions of the community pharmacy team on their role in antimicrobial stewardship. Objective To explore views and experiences of community pharmacy teams across Scotland on antimicrobial stewardship, activities related to European Antibiotic Awareness Day, and a self-help guide to treating infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of factors that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and include: diabetes and prediabetes, abdominal obesity, elevated triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high blood-pressure. However, the role of the pharmacist in the metabolic syndrome has not yet been fully explored. Aim of the review This systematic review aimed to critically appraise, synthesise, and present the available evidence on pharmacists' input to the screening, prevention and management of metabolic syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFbacteremia is an infection associated with a high mortality rate. Piperacillin-tazobactam is a β-lactam-β-lactamase inhibitor combination that is frequently used for the management of infections. The pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic index associated with maximal bacterial killing for piperacillin-tazobactam is the percentage of the time between doses at which the free fraction concentration remains above the MIC (% ).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Limited data exist on the facilitators and barriers to implementing electronic systems for medicines management in hospitals. Whilst numerous studies advocate system use in improved patient safety and efficiency within the health service, their rate of adoption in practice has been slow.
Objective: To explore the perceptions of key stakeholders towards the facilitators and barriers to implementing electronic prescribing systems, robotic pharmacy systems, and automated medication storage and retrieval systems in public hospital settings using Normalization Process Theory as a theoretical framework.
Objectives: This study aimed to use a theoretical approach to understand the determinants of behaviour in patients not home self-administering intravenous antibiotics.
Setting: Outpatient care: included patients were attending an outpatient clinic for intravenous antibiotic administration in the northeast of Scotland.
Participants: Patients were included if they had received more than 7 days of intravenous antibiotics and were aged 16 years and over.
Background: There is a dearth of literature on perceptions of preparedness to practise, which explores the extent to which educational institutions prepare their students to fulfil their professional role.
Objective: The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of preparedness to practise among Saudi Arabian pharmacy graduates working in hospital.
Method: Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten hospital pharmacists based in four hospitals in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia who had qualified within the last five years from a Saudi Arabian School of Pharmacy.
Background: Healthcare professionals are involved in an array of patient- and medicine-related stewardship activities, for which an understanding and engagement with antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is important. Undergraduate education provides an ideal opportunity to prepare healthcare professionals for these roles and activities.
Aim: To provide UK national consensus on a common set of antimicrobial stewardship competencies appropriate for undergraduate healthcare professional education.
J R Coll Physicians Edinb
March 2017
Objectives To describe and understand the determinants of patients' behaviours surrounding admission to hospital for an acute infective episode Method Patients admitted to the infection or acute medicine admission units of a major Scottish teaching hospital and commenced on antibiotic therapy after admission were included. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted using a pre-piloted interview schedule guide that focused on gathering information about patient behaviours and experiences prior to admission to hospital with an acute infection. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using the Framework Approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The aims of this study were to quantify the behavioural determinants of health professional reporting of medication errors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to explore any differences between respondents.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey of patient-facing doctors, nurses and pharmacists within three major hospitals of Abu Dhabi, the UAE. An online questionnaire was developed based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF, a framework of behaviour change theories).
Purpose: Effective and efficient medication reporting processes are essential in promoting patient safety. Few qualitative studies have explored reporting of medication errors by health professionals, and none have made reference to behavioural theories. The objective was to describe and understand the behavioural determinants of health professional reporting of medication errors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Best practice guidelines recommend that a multidisciplinary Antimicrobial Management Team (AMT) conduct antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) activities in hospitals. In order to continuously improve AMS activities in Irish hospitals it is important to benchmark performance by comparison with other countries.
Objective: To compare the membership of AMTs and AMS activities conducted in Irish and United Kingdom (UK) hospitals.